The Indicator from Planet Money - The IRS wants to do your taxes for free. Will it last?

With tax season upon us, many people are paying someone or a software to get their tax returns done. A small group of people, however, are filing online directly with ... the IRS. For free. Today on the show: how the IRS's tax filing experiment came to be, how it's been working so far, and who doesn't like it.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Why the EU is investigating China’s wind turbines

Europe wants clean energy, but it's struggling to compete with the low cost of China's green technology. The E.U. just announced it's investigating the subsidies received by Chinese wind turbine suppliers, which play a part in those low costs.

On today's episode, we speak with Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, about how the E.U. is trying to build and maintain a competitive green tech industry in the face of low-price Chinese imports. And we ask how the U.S.'s climate industrial policy fits into all this action.

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Why offshore wind is facing headwinds (Apple / Spotify)

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The Indicator from Planet Money - What do the royals do all day, anyway?

You've heard of the British royal family, but what about the "working royals?" Today on the show, an expert on the royals explains what the job is like — how they measure productivity, how they get paid, and how this tiny, specialized workforce of 11 people might cope with the health crises of King Charles III and Kate Middleton.

Subscribe to journalist Elizabeth Holmes' newsletter on the British royal family.

Related episodes:
The U.K.'s most famous family firm in crisis

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Why companies spin off

General Electric has been staggering along for years as a conglomerate. But recently, it's turned to a popular strategy to unlock new value: spinning off. Just last week, GE spun off its clean energy business into a new company: GE Vernova. On today's show, we explore what a spin off is and why companies do them.

Related Episodes:
What happened to GE?

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking?

Is loneliness as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes per day? That?s the claim circulating on social media.

We trace this stat back to its source and speak the scientist behind the original research on which it is based, Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad.

Presenter / series producer: Tom Colls Reporter: Perisha Kudhail Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Mix: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Richard Vadon